The Foreigner on the Periphery

Hell of Disbelief (20)

While Ha Eun-seong was busy spiraling into chaos, the people who gave the cause felt the same deep confusion as Ha Eun-seong. The heretical judges widened their eyes. 

‘A dark wizard? And… a dragon?!’ 

Minjun then covered his body and face with shadows. The special skill of the vicious spellcasters who sacrificed people was clear. However, why were the dragons together? 

‘Anyway, the committee is behind them.’ 

They weren’t naive enough to think that Minjun was an Earthling. Despite the fact that the main corps set up a smoke screen, the committee decided to intercept the target. 

‘There is no certainty. They were sent to persecute us based on assumptions alone. To have entrusted you with such a filthy work… that man, a prisoner.’

Meanwhile, Minjun also began to observe his opponent. 

‘The head is still in Jochaim’s hand. Why didn’t you take it?’ 

His gaze tilted slightly and he began to see the priest with his arm torn. The bleeding on the amputation had already stopped, even though he didn’t cast holy magic spells. A good priest would heal injuries such as amputation very quickly. 

This was recovery magic that was internalized in the body. The severed arm did not grow back, but healing proved to be enough during the battle. 

= I can’t understand why the committee is preventing us from exercising our legitimate rights. Haven’t you already given permission to jump? = 

He began to point to his head instead of answering. A severed neck began to emit a brilliant flash of light. “I should give it to you.” 

Prisoners did not explain the fact that the committee placed a huge bounty on that neck. In addition, he did not even speak of an order to avoid as much as possible in the event of an affair with the heretical judges but to exterminate them if that was not feasible.

This was because he didn’t plan to follow the instructions. “I have no intention of killing you if you will cooperate. There are more stories to be heard.” 

An indescribable displeasure then began to fill the faces of the judges. The three pairs of eyes turned harsh. This was simply because the opponent’s words were a taunt that completely ignored them.

= Were the closures that long? To the extent that the committee completely forgets the power of our denomination? = 

Minjun then narrowed his eyes. ‘Religious people already have a bad match with me.’ 

Their resilience began to repel even curses. And so, he had no choice but to use a tactic similar to that against dragons. The judge then began to speak with a slightly hazy mental wave. 

= Jochaim, wait a minute. It would be better to deal with the disturbers first and continue the rest of the conversation. = 

Three aliens then rushed into the siege, and at the same time, the prisoner grew in size. 

*** 

Jochaim then watched the fight in front of his eyes with a blank look. Then ensued a battle of monsters they would never have imagined. 

‘Isn’t that… that agent in Korea?!’ 

The shadow that covered him changed its form several times per second and attacked.

Surprisingly enough, the three aliens seemed to be stumped, unable to overwhelm one of the agents. Minjun seemed to be running wildly, but he moved in a very precise trajectory. This was an attack with both beastly savagery and restrained precision. 

The judges nearly blew their limbs off several times. The aliens who dealt with him also appeared to be paying extreme caution unlike when they were first attacked. Therefore, the darkness that flew in like a blade was only barely cutting through the flesh. 

Although serious injuries could be avoided, the wounds remained and the healing power was consumed. Despite the 3:1 fight, the agent seemed to have taken the initiative. 

‘That’s…’ 

Jochaim then realized another fact. 

‘I don’t want to kill you!’ 

Jochaim didn’t know all the vitals of that race, but if he were to cut his neck or break his head, he would die. like father. However, Minjun was exquisitely avoiding such places. 

When things didn’t go as expected, one of the judges ended up being too impatient and began to haul in divine power. 

Paah! 

A flash of light then emanated from the alien’s hand. It was a light without heat, but Minjun turned around quickly as if he was able to sense something. A holy ray passed over his shoulder. Then, he shattered his shadow and began to splatter in all directions, as if water had been poured on boiling oil. The shadows then flipped over, revealing the skin where it broke. The bare body was not covered by shadows. However, the flesh began to swell and boil. 

Quarr! Among holy magic, the principle of the recovery system was to activate cell division extremely, and when applied to an intact area, it has the opposite effect. 

As a result, a large tumor mass swelled on Minjun’s shoulder. However… 

Whoops! 

Without hesitation, Minjun pierced his tumor with a dagger. 

Pop! 

A lump of flesh that had swelled bigger than a watermelon burst, and blood began to splatter out. The red debris then quickly melted into the air and disappeared. The agent, who did not shed a groan even after shattering the flesh that had just been attached to his body, began to attack again as if nothing had happened. 

He didn’t know if it was because of his mood, but Jochaim thought that the shadows were getting darker. 

‘Who are you? Why do you come all the way from Korea to fight the judges?’ 

His knowledge could not link the identity of the opponent to the committee. ‘No, what does that matter now?’

Jochaim had to make a choice. Contrary to expectations, the fight was unlikely to end unilaterally. That agent and the judges were too busy fighting. 

Because of this, he had to decide where to go now, all while considering the proposals of the judges. 

‘Are you going to take me to that dimension?’ Should I go? they 

Should he go? They had spoken about attending the final ritual prepared there, to help awaken the gods from sleep, and to leave an indelible scar in their memory. And so, that eternal life was indeed guaranteed. 

The answer came quickly. ‘I can’t believe it!’ 

Even after hearing the secrets of the denomination that had been constantly demanded from his adoptive father, Jochaim could not trust the contents. In particular, the story of the original race was shocking. 

There were those who dreamt of this world. A savior who would one day destroy the false world and grant eternal life in memory… A deity that Jochaim worshipped and served with devotion. Such gods… 

‘Did you fall into a happy dream… and don’t you know that blood is pouring down the nape of your neck? Are you saying you are sleeping without knowing that?!’ 

It was quite unacceptable to even say that people living in a false world would collect blood and use it as money. No, it would go beyond that level and was indeed blasphemous. When he heard of the blood being sucked alive, Jochaim came to mind of a certain tribe in Africa. 

These days, savages would continue to do things that even vampires wouldn’t do. This was a scene he had seen somewhere. People would drill a hole in the skinny neck of a cow. If a blood stream were to burst out, even a single drop would cause continuous bleeding, so he would put the dirty plastic bucket up close and would fill it with blood. 

Drawing blood did not necessarily mean slaughter. After pulling it out so as not to die, apply mud or hot ashes to the wound to coagulate it. They would then wait until the blood would come back. After that, a hole would get drilled in the neck again… 

‘Nonsense! There is no way the original race was being consumed in that way!’ 

He began to think with his eyes wide open. ‘Isn’t that more like a ‘livestock’ than a god?’ 

Simply put, it was disgusting. Even trying to accept it as a fact was revolting. 

‘It’s a lie.’ 

Jochaim, like many, had a clear standard of faith. Much like his childhood, when he could not believe the reality of the world he lived in was a lie, he decided not to believe the judges. This was because such livestock were not the gods they worshipped. There was, after all, no God. And so, Jochaim decided to run away.

=No!= 

The heretical judges were astonished to see Jochaim taking out his adoptive father, simply because there was no escape in response to their supposed reaction. He taught him the truth he was longing for and made a proposal that was almost like a guarantee of eternal life. 

Why?! 

And so, he tried to approach Jochaim right away, but Minjun didn’t allow it. In the end, it was a particular existence they had forgotten that managed to suppress Jochaim’s escape. 

*** 

=!= 

Ha Eun-seong, who was lost for a moment, was now awakened by Minjun’s scream in his head. Astonishment and fear then quickly turned into anger. ‘Those aliens have something to do with the bastard who killed me!’ 

No matter what the circumstances were, the aliens couldn’t do anything good. 

‘Where are you running?’ Minjun obviously said this. ‘If you think someone is going to run away, blow out the fire! They’re not going to die from it anyway!’ 

Whoops!

Ha Eun-seong, who had inflated his chest, recalled the sensations he had practiced in the past. He had never blown the breath out of his mouth, but he had trained several times before that. The air was condensing to the limit. 

Whoaaaaah! 

“!” 

The Bremanhaven night ended up getting cut short. The heat rays rising from the ground had begun to pierce through the darkness. Day penetrated through the shards of the black sky. The city that had lost its shadows shone in scarlet. 

At the center of it, a blazing firestorm began to rage. 

Quarrrr! 

Unintentionally, instead of keeping the flame level with the ground, the axis tilted slightly upward. It was fortunate for the citizens of this city and for the party who blew fire. Instead of penetrating the city, the flames then began to shoot out toward the empty sky. 

Therefore, there were no large-scale casualties, and the head that Minjun was aiming for was not burned. Still, everyone felt bewildered. The agent himself looked at the dragon with a puzzled expression. However, the person who was most surprised at this place was Ha Eun-seong. 

= This, what is this….=

He didn’t mean to burn it this hard, but half of the house was blown away! The walls began to crumble, and sparks began to blaze along the round contours of the breath. Inside, the steel frame melted and flowed slowly. 

Jochaim then sat down, clutching his head. The goal of preventing the escape was achieved, but the process ended up being too much. This was to the extent that the aiming failure was only fortunate. 

Minjun then clicked his tongue inwardly. The grumbling was then mixed with emotions that were not those of the prisoners. ‘Why is the fire so hot for a guy who isn’t even 100 years old? He’s going to make a big deal out of it.’ 

His accident happened in an instant.

While the judges froze, he hurled his shadow whip at the seated Jochaim. 

= No?!= 

There then came a continuous scream. “Aww!” 

The sharpened shadow had cut off the bishop’s arm. The head he was holding began to soar into the air. This was not to save Jochaim but to snatch his head from lying on the floor. 

However, Minjun was standing in the way, and the other judge had to block the shadow that had been shot towards his head. Their fight began again. No one cared about Jochaim. 

Rather, he was tacitly welcoming the current situation. A bishop-class priest would not die if his arm was severed, and so he sealed his movements and took his head out of his grasp. Or, he may have decided that his life or death was not important. Perhaps… 

*** 

“·········!” Jochaim noticed something strange while he was struggling in the blood he had shed. 

‘········Why is it not recovering?’ 

There was no phenomenon that should appear naturally for a priest of that level. His arm was amputated, but the amputation would, in turn, heal quickly. Minjun knew that, and so he cut it. However, the wounds were still serious. 

His blood was busily gushing out. Only then did Jochaim memorize divine magic spells. But··· 

‘?!’ 

That power that had always lingered in his body since his first awakening of this ability was no longer felt. Jochaim could not understand English.

And so, several attempts were repeated. He felt his head grow heavy. 

‘It’s cold…’ 

A huge amount of blood began to escape through the wound that didn’t heal. His body began to cool like ice. A terrifying cold feeling began to seep in all directions. Beyond the shaky sight, he could see the heads of the foster parents who had been thrown away. 

He was lying on his side and soaking his cheeks in red blood. The priest then began to think in distant pain. ‘It’s all lies. Right? Father!’ 

The Patriarch then killed with his own hands the Bishops he had raised like his own. A very cruel act. Jochaim then saw it as an irreversible accident committed by a madman.

But what if… it was for a clear purpose? What if the compulsion to return home was not the impulsive delusion of the psychopath, but the desire of a religious person to be guaranteed eternal life? What if the father killed her children to gain eternal life? 

‘If what they said was true… were you really going crazy?’ 

No, it couldn’t be true. Everything was just lies. Meanwhile, the pain slowly receded and dulled, until finally it wrapped around Jochaim.

Only then did he feel extremely tired. ‘I want to sleep.’ 

Now, he didn’t seem to want to do anything. He just wanted to sleep soundly. 

With that thought in his mind, darkness began to glisten under his eyes. Jochaim did not even try to resist it.